Dealing With It All
by Fanfiction Tony
Summary: Kirito and Asuna still have a lot to do, even though the SAO crisis is over. Kirito has a lot to deal with, and Asuna is there for him until the end. But what is the end? I'm rating this M so that I can write lemon(s) if I feel like it, but I don't know that I will. If I do, there'll be warnings of course.
1. Chapter 1

**DUDES, I am back for another story, and hopefully I keep this one going on longer than I was holding my head above water with the other story. I'm still working on that, by the way, but I was getting back into SAO and so I decided I'd write something of that nature because I really love that show! ANYWAYS, let's get to it then?**

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 _Kirito jumped back from his slash, getting into position to strike with his Dark Repulsor, the sword glowing with the familiar color of the sword skill he was about to use. He lunged forward, crashing the tip into the shield that was moved in the way just in time._

 _"Goodbye, Kirito," Heathcliff said, smirking. His sword started glowing red, with the use of his sword skill, and he brought it down on Kirito. Or, what would have been Kirito._

 _Had Asuna not jumped in the way._

 _She fell, and Kirito caught her, watching her health bar drain from it's near full green stage, to yellow, down to red, and finally it was gone._

 _And so was she._

Kazuto sat up in bed quickly, tears flooding down his face and his breath was heavy. He was sobbing, he knew it was just a dream and he had them often, but they still got to him. He rolled off his bed, falling to his hands and knees, vomiting on the floor in front of him. He stared at the ground, tears rolling off his cheeks into the small pile of vomit on the floor.

"Damn it," He mumbled, gritting his teeth. He got to his feet, walking out of the room and going to the kitchen to get supplies to clean up the mess he'd made. After he was done cleaning his room, he grabbed a towel and headed to the bathroom to take a much needed shower.

Steam rolled out of the open door as Kazuto walked out of the bathroom, wearing nothing but black pajama bottoms with his towel wrapped around his neck. He smiled lightly, running a hand through his thick black hair, and closed his eyes.

Images of her death flashed before his eyes, as they always did, and he shot his eyes open. He groaned, his eyes becoming dull and the bags under them becoming much more apparent as the pink hue from the hot shower he had just taken went away. He went back into his room, sitting on his bed and grabbing his cell phone from the bedside table.

'Hey Asuna, I don't mean to wake you, but I could really use the company if you're already awake.' He shot a quick text to his strawberry blonde haired love.

'I was already awake, do you want to meet me at the house in ALO?' she responded after a few minutes. Kazuto responded with a quick affirmation and then lay down in bed, putting his nervegear on and starting it up.

"Link start!"

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In complete honesty, Asuna hadn't been awake. She awoke to the familiar ding of the ring tone she had set specifically to Kazuto, and knew that something had to have been wrong. After getting her nervegear on and starting the game, she found that she was already in the house. She sat up in the bed she was in in the game, and waited for Kirito.

Asuna heard the sound of him signing in, and shortly afterward saw the door to their bedroom open. He walked in, wearing his casual house atire instead of his full combat gear. He looked at her, his eyes dull, and she smiled at him trying to cheer him up. It didn't seem to be working.

Kirito walked to her side of the bed, reaching out to take her hands in his, and pulled her to her feet. Before she could ask what was going on he wrapped his arms around her, almost falling to his knees, his face falling to her neck and tears already flowing down his face. Asuna wrapped her arms around him tight, neither of them talking, but just holding each other. She knew what was wrong.

Kirito had been having horrible nightmares and anxiety/panic attacks ever since the whole SAO crisis had ended. She couldn't be there for him that much because as much as she had made up with her mother, she still wasn't entirely understanding of their situation. Sometimes, even the strong needed to cry.

"I almost lost you, SO many times!" Kirito sobbed into her, she sighed, holding him tighter. "I couldn't live with it..."

"I know Kirito-kun. I know..." She whispered gently to him, "I love you." She moved her right hand up from his back to the back of his head, rubbing gently and running her hands through his hair. He pulled her tight to him, his fingers pulling on the fabric of her shirt.

"I love you too Asuna... So much.." He whispered betweens pants and sobs. She kissed the side of his head, before leaning back and pulling him into the bed with her. They both unequipped their shoes and most of their top layer of clothing, which they normally didn't wear while sleeping, and she pulled his head onto her chest, the reverse of how they used to sleep.

"Sleep now, Kirito-kun. You don't need to protect me now, I'll protect you. You'll never lose me. I promise.." She whispered to him, kissing the top of his head. Kirito looked up at her, before pressing his lips to hers gently then setting his head back to it's resting place. Asuna went back to petting and running her hand through his hair. Kirito fell asleep soon afterward, and Asuna sighed, half in contentment, and half in worry.

The crisis had ended, but they still had a long way to go before they were out of it.

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 **Okay guys, I know this chapter is pretty short, but it was really just to get a precursor of what it would be like to write this. Let me know how I'm doing. What would you like to see different in what I've written? Please review, and if you really liked it follow and favorite it, it really helps me gather the motivation to write! See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**OH SHIT!**

 **Is this the second chapter to a story I started well over a year ago?**

 **You bet your ass it is!**

 **Maybe I should explain myself, why I'm writing this and not my Naruto fic. Mainly, because my Naruto fic is incredibly hard for me to write right now. I'm actually thinking about scrapping it and starting a new one, let me know. Anyways, a lot has changed for me in the last year. I moved to another state, started working in the lab of a gold mine, and essentially am in the worst depression of my life! But, it's all good, because I make a lot of money.**

 **Not really.**

 **But eh, let's get this show on the road shall we?**

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When Kirito awoke he felt a lot more refreshed, but knew that his actual body had gotten none of the rest that he did. Asuna wasn't anywhere to be seen, but after a quick swipe of his finger he could see she was still online. Stretching his all too lifelike muscles, he got out of bed, leisurely wandering about the house.

He found himself in the kitchen, where Asuna had pulled out several ingredients for a fantastic breakfast. He always loved when Asuna cooked, though it still twinged in the back of his mind that none of it was real. He could never escape it. Every time he looked at her, making food, holding him the way she had last night, any time, it hurt him.

None of it was real. This was not SAO, and that was part of the problem. In that world, it had been real. There was nothing else, no outside, no taking off the helmet because your mother wants you to, no boundary between them. All they had was each other, and that was how he'd liked it. Kirito, or rather Kazuto, had always been disconnected from the real world in exchange for a liking to video games. The concept of being in SAO hadn't really bothered him, so much as the knowledge that they'd die if they didn't get out, and it was much more common to die within.

Aincrad was not a bad place, inherently. He'd brought it here to Alfheim for a reason. The memories, not only of the places and how beautiful they'd been, but the way his heart took off when he saw how they'd made Asuna feel.

Maybe that was selfish of him, he'd allow many people to die just to see her smile, and laugh, and be happy. But he could have lost that at any time in that world, and in this one it's temperamental how often she can be on. These fleeting moments, are all that he can have of her..

"Good morning, Kirito-kun" Asuna said, finally snapping him out of his thoughts. He stuttered for a reply, not sure that his voice would hold out if he tried to speak. Hearing her say his name in that tone, that endearing tone. It brought back the memories, that he never ever wanted to be over.

"G-good morning, Asuna.." he finally replied, quietly, as though trying not to be heard. She pursed her lips at him, but otherwise left it alone as she made the food. Kirito sat down at the table, stretching out a bit as she finished up. She brought the food to him after she was done, setting down in front of him several different foods that didn't really have real world counterparts. He smiled widely at her, ready to eat up everything that she'd made, but found that she was giving him an incredibly worried face.

He sighed, looking down at his food, as she started to talk. "Kirito-kun... You're not healthy, you need to talk to someone. You've mentioned little things, but I think that you need to talk to someone professionally." She said quietly, uncharacteristically outspoken. Kirito could explain why, but he suddenly felt very angry, almost attacked.

"That's not what I need, I just need you..." He said quickly, looking at her. Tears welled up in her eyes as she shook her head.

"That's not true Kirito-kun! I can't help you! I try and I try and you still hurt, and I can't fix it. I couldn't help you, ever. I want to so bad, it hurts... But I'm not strong enough..." She sobbed, quieting down as she finished her statement.

Suddenly overwhelmed with rage, Kirito quickly swiped his hand down and logged out, fuming as he pulled his headset off, tossing it carelessly to the ground. He couldn't even understand why he was so angry, it didn't make sense to him, he'd never been this kind of angry before.

He couldn't even tell what or who he was angry at... Himself? Asuna? He didn't know, and didn't want to think about it anymore, so he ran out of his room, heading to his motorcycle to go for a ride.

As Kirito logged out Asuna fell to her knees, sobbing audibly louder, her tears falling to the ground and pixelating as they did. Not only did it hurt her for Kirito to leave like that, but it hurt her that he was hurting so bad. Much like in SAO, she just wasn't able to save him, save for that one time.

She laid her head on the ground as she sobbed more, hoping nobody logged in for a while, because she didn't want to log out and cry in the real world.

Kazuto flew down the roads of his province of Japan, going much faster than the recommended speed. He wasn't wearing his helmet, nor any special clothing, just some pajama pants and a hoodie he'd grabbed on his way out the door.

As he went around a corner, the bike slid a bit further than he was expecting, sliding him into oncoming traffic as a large truck was coming toward him.

There were mere seconds for him to react, but it passed through his head again.

 _He wasn't fast enough_

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 **Alright guys, you know the deal. Let me know what you think, feel free to complain about the long wait, unless you're a new reader, in which case don't worry about those rumors, I update so quick! I know this chapter is also a bit short, but I've been awake for 30 hours so cut me some slack. If this story gets 10 more reviews (2 reviews per person!) I'll upload another, probably short, chapter within 24 hours.**

 **Please do review though, it really actually truly does help to motivate me!**


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